


i love you

by strawberrylipstick



Series: boyfriend escapades [5]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Fluff, I love you's, Just something I felt like writing, Love, M/M, Tyrus - Freeform, Well obviously, bc im lonely lmao, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 00:49:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20826623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylipstick/pseuds/strawberrylipstick
Summary: Cyrus and T.J. confess what everyone already knows.





	i love you

Cyrus was ten years old when he asked about love for the first time.

Young and naive as he was, he still had a rather broad understanding of the complex human emotion. So when his parents announced they were getting divorced, too sadly and softly, the first response Cyrus had was: “Do you still love each other?”

The immediate answer was yes. But relationships, he was told, are based on much more than love. Too many factors are involved, he’d come to learn. He wondered when.

As time went on and a painful crush was formed, Cyrus experienced both heartbreak and fear. But it wasn’t love, per se, even if it sure as hell felt like it. Jonah Beck was literal perfection, with marry-me eyes and those irresistible dimples. He was pulled into an unforgiving vortex, of too many thoughts and feelings, of insecurities and realizations. 

And then came along a boy he met through a fateful enmity with his best friend. A layered, well-developed relationship that began with hand-holding on a wooden bunch during an eighth-grade party. 

Cyrus always thought he’d knew when he fell in love. However, there was no deciding factor, no signal to tell him how much he cared about T.J. Kippen. It prickled in the back of his mind for weeks, in the form of jealousy and overbearing sadness, but that was overshadowed once they got together. Months of laughter, ups and downs, and lingering touches began; no clear words had to be spoken.

Yet the mind works in funny ways. The arrival of high school matured their relationship, falling into a steady rhythm. His parents had told him relationships were based on much more than love. They were right, Cyrus supposed; there was also commitment, effort, determination. T.J. and Cyrus seemed to have all of these things.

And when you love someone, the declaration comes out naturally. It comes out on a September evening when the streetlights bounce. When dusk sets its shadow and the icy feeling of slurpees numb your tongue. When the only thing on your mind is not the cold, not the schoolwork you have to do tonight, nothing, absolutely nothing, except the person next to you.

The orange illumination allowed Cyrus to count every freckle on T.J.’s cheek, examine the shape of his familiar lips more closely as he excitedly chattered about three-pointers or whatever he found fascinating. It was too endearing, and Cyrus couldn’t help but smile at what life had given him. 

When they departed due to their nearing curfew and Cyrus buried his face in the crook of T.J.’s neck as always, the warm feeling led to the simple, matter-of-fact statement.

“I love you,” he told him. It was the truth in all its glory, built up from messy costume days and terrible first dates, from bad days that they faced together and every single moment that they were blessed to share.

T.J. looked down at the boy in his arms and gave a surprised, happy smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Cyrus kissed his knuckle. “Yeah.”

“Well,” T.J. said, “I love you too. I have for quite some time.”

“I’m certainly glad to hear that.” He laughed as new bouts of cold air hit them. “Do you think the weather is trying to say something?”

T.J. held him closer, as if the wind would take Cyrus away. “We’ll last forever.” The alternative was impossible, it felt.

But as they walked in separate directions, Cyrus mulled it over in his head. They were only freshmen; four unknown years spread across the table almost scarily. If his parents’ marriage couldn’t last, would their high school relationship? 

Commitment. Effort. Determination. They needed to maintain these things. If he was sure about one thing, though, Cyrus knew his feelings for T.J. would remain. Even as the years passed and they naturally grew apart. He would never forget the spark between them, all-encompassing and so much like home. Relationships aren’t just about love, but a big part is, and that was fulfilled. It always would be.

So Cyrus continued walking home, content about how T.J. Kippen was his first love. That, satisfyingly, was unalterable.

**Author's Note:**

> missing tyrus and missing being happy lol


End file.
